Nursing leadership: Key element of professional development☆

Professor Xiaoying Jiang,Director of the Chinese Nursing Journals Publishing House

Trends in recent years have emphasized the importance of nursing leadership in China and globally.In 2020,the World Health Organization released State of the world’s nursing 2020:investing in education,jobs and leadership [1],specifically proposing that nursing leadership should be strengthened to enable nurses to become current and future leaders in healthcare.This report is based on the development of healthcare across the world under a comprehensive view of the overall level of human health.As the nursing profession evolves and expands,nurses play an increasingly essential role in promoting global human health.Nursing leadership is crucial for professional development.

1.Leadership is the key to setting and achieving goals

Nursing leadership is the driving for nursing leaders to effectively bring followers together to establish and achieve their goals.In the context of the Healthy China strategy,nursing is a healthcentered care service that gradually extends from the hospital to the community,to the family,and serves the whole life cycle.Nurses serve in diverse settings and at varying levels of care,offering nursing care in hospitals,addressing geriatric needs in communities and homes,managing chronic diseases,providing maternal and child health care,attending to long-term care and hospice care,and promoting health education.The constantly increasing range and depth of nursing services highlight the important role of nursing leadership.

The complexity of diseases and the growing health needs of patients and families require interdisciplinary collaboration and team-based,holistic integration of a variety of resources to provide healthcare services to patients and families.The implementation of healthcare processes is a challenging task,and nurses are the key drivers in achieving successful outcomes.To ensure success,it is crucial that nurses possess strong leadership skills,which enable them to guide their teams toward the desired goal effectively.For example,the medical team must work together cooperatively to ensure the best possible care for hospitalized patients.This team includes doctors,auxiliary department medical technicians,logistic personnel,and nurses.Nurses play a pivotal role in facilitating communication and collaboration among the team members,which requires a proactive approach rather than only passively following doctor’s orders.

Leadership is characterized by a range of aspects,with four key traits being of particular importance.The first one is motivation.As a leader,it is essential to possess a fervent passion for your life,career,and profession,and to remain driven and committed to achieving your goals.The second trait is intense desire.When it comes to dealing with patients,this desire translates into a strong passion for taking care of them and helping them recover as quickly as possible.Nurses who possess this trait of intense desire often work closely with healthcare teams,families,and other support systems to instill confidence in patients and promote their recovery.This trait is particularly important for nursing professionals who face challenging demands and responsibilities on a daily basis.The third trait is integrity.This means that one should not be biased based on personal gain or wealth when saving lives.As a nurse,it is important to have a strong sense of integrity and to always act in the best interest of the patients.The fourth trait is selfconfidence.Structured theoretical knowledge and excellent practical skills are crucial for nurses to provide quality patient care.They also serve as a basis for nurses’ self-confidence,which is essential in leading a team to success and achieving the ultimate goals of the organization.

The four main characteristics of leadership align with the requirements of nursing professionals,including nurses and nursing managers.For managers,having leadership skills is crucial in establishing and achieving goals.It involves grasping the main direction of the team’s development and influencing the nurses’sense of responsibility,professional value,and job satisfaction through charisma and influence.This can promote team cohesion,enabling team members to work together towards the team’s objectives.When everyone works together towards a common goal,it enhances the team’s professional success rate and sense of achievement.Effective nursing management requires excellent leadership skills that can effectively coordinate and command all forces to ensure the quality of nursing care.This allows for an orderly working environment that facilitates the development of the entire team.Ultimately,it leads to the elevation of the nursing discipline to a higher level.

It is essential for nurses to possess leadership skills for their professional growth and development.Developing leadership skills among nurses can boost their motivation,responsibility,and ini-tiative towards work.This helps them derive a sense of accom-plishment and self-worth,which ultimately improves the status of the nursing profession and makes nurses feel proud of their personal achievements.

In today’s healthcare environment,nursing leadership skills have become more crucial than ever before.The cultivation and preservation of nurse leadership are necessary requirements for adapting to role transformations and human resource adjustments of national healthcare organizations.With the constantly evolving healthcare landscape,it is essential to stay ahead of the curve and be prepared to adapt to the changing requirements of healthcare needs.The development and cultivation of nursing leadership skills can help nurses take on new roles and responsibilities and handle challenges that arise in healthcare settings.Thus,leadership is very important for general nurses and nursing managers,and it is the key to establishing and achieving goals.

2.Leadership is the foundation for nurses to realize professional value

Why is leadership the foundation for nurses to realize their professional values? The Five Leadership Competencies Model [2] offers insights into this point.The first one is inspiration.This requires nurses and nurse managers,as leaders,to be able to motivate and encourage their team to follow their guidance and work towards a common goal.The second ability is influence.Unlike the relationship between managers and those who are managed,where the latter are passive,followers are proactive and actively choose to follow a leader because they are attracted to and influenced by them.The third one is foresight,which is the ability to anticipate and capitalize on future opportunities.This means setting goals that are higher than the team’s average performance.The fourth one is decisiveness.Having the ability to make quick and efficient decisions when faced with various problems and emergencies is crucial in the execution of strategies.Leaders should not hesitate to take action,as it contributes significantly to the success of their endeavors.The fifth leadership ability is control,which involves effectively managing an organization’s development direction,strategy,implementation process,and overall effectiveness.Inspiration is considered as the most vital quality in a leader.Foresight and influence are important to anticipate potential barriers and make informed decisions that guide their team toward success.During implementation,decisiveness and control become crucial.

The Leadership Research Center at Peking University has proposed the 360-degree leadership model,which consists of six abilities:Learning ability to gain continuous growth,Decisive decisionmaking ability with strategic thinking,Organizational ability to integrate resources,Teaching ability to lead and educate others,Execution ability to achieve performance,and Inspiration ability to unite people [3].Decision making ability requires a leader’s capacity to think broadly and consider various options.Organizational ability encompasses the capacity to identify and effectively utilize the talents of team members.Appropriate teaching ability enables a leader to educate and guide their team effectively.Execution ability describes a leader’s capacity to achieve exceptional performance.Leaders should encourage their teams to execute the plan and strategies more efficiently.In nursing leadership,inspiration ability is demonstrated when a leader effectively rallies the hearts and minds of individuals toward a common goal,be it organizational objectives,hospital management goals,or societal demands for healthcare.It is only through the exertion of effective leadership that nursing leaders can guide and motivate their team members to enhance organizational cohesion and augment the core competencies of the organization.Indeed,leaders must set an example for others,as teaching by actions is more persuasive than the mere use of words.

To tackle the challenges posed by an aging population,public health emergencies,and the health risks associated with climate change,nurses need to cultivate strong leadership skills.By improving their leadership abilities,they can efficiently manage resources from various sources to deliver comprehensive care to patients and their families,resulting in better patient outcomes and high-quality healthcare delivery.Moreover,leadership plays a crucial role in aligning the aim and guiding the right direction of nursing professional development,leading to the success of the nursing profession.Therefore,by developing leadership qualities,nurses have the potential to become inspiring leaders with exceptional skills to better serve the public’s healthcare needs.

Declaration of competing interest

The author declared no conflict of interest.